


Inciting Fortitude Upon a Delta

by CKBookish



Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Barbara Gordon is Batgirl, Drowning, GSW, Gen, Hurt Dick Grayson, Hurt/Comfort, I'm mostly tagging this to be safe., James is creepy in this, Locked up, Protective Barabara Gordon, Protective Dick Grayson, Sibling Abuse, the ship is very very minor you could really blink and miss it.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:22:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28173876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CKBookish/pseuds/CKBookish
Summary: Perhaps it was that Dick Grayson was always in motion.  Barbara couldn’t help but be drawn in.  His movements were always choreographed and seemed to be fluid as a dancing flame.  It’s what Barbara wanted to be.  She craved that freedom: to move when and as she pleased.  But after years of her mother’s glare and teachers tuts and off tellings, Barbara quit.  Now she sat still with her books and worked.  Perhaps she was drawn to Dick in the same way she was drawn to dance.  Both allowed for that rush she craved.How tragic it was that they both lay so still. There was no way to maneuver so that she could check his wound.  The best she could do was twist her left arm under one of her legs to brush his arm.  She could just reach his wrist for a pulse.As long as his heart was still beating she would be calm.  She had to figure this out.  She had to save him.  After all that bullet was meant for her.After Barbara's brother traps them them at the bottom of Gotham Bay,  Barbara knows she can't wait for help.  She has to get them out, after all she can't leave him,  not when he saved her first.
Relationships: Barbara Gordon & Jim Gordon, Barbara Gordon and James Gordon jr., Barbara Gordon/Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne
Comments: 25
Kudos: 108
Collections: BatFam Winter Gift Exchange 2020





	Inciting Fortitude Upon a Delta

**Author's Note:**

  * For [graysonsflight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/graysonsflight/gifts).



> Okay, so we are doing a Christmas Gift exchange on our Batfam 18+ server, and I was given the wonderful, delightful, magnificent Kay (aka Graysonsflight). Thank you to my beta readers, as this is anon I can't say who y'all are but you know!!!  
> The following was my prompt:  
> Fav character: Babs  
> Three Favorite relationships (romo and non-romo marked) Dick/Babs (both romantic and non romo) Dick & Jason (non-ro) Jason & Babs (non-ro)  
> What are three things you love to see? (Think tropes or moods) Sass and Snark, People being protective, whump with a happy ending  
> Any important nopes? It can hurt - I just need it to end with some hope.
> 
> I didn't quiet make it to having Jason in the story, sorry about that, 😬  
> But I hope this still satisfices you! 
> 
> please note the ship is really minor and is more implied as a teen crush.
> 
> Now that my identity is out I’ve added the epigraph. Happy holidays!

If it’s a choice between you and me, I‘d choose you everytime. 

The problem is you’d do the same.

* * *

  
Perhaps it was that Dick Grayson was always in motion. Barbara couldn’t help but be drawn in. His movements were always choreographed and seemed to be fluid as a dancing flame. It’s what Barbara wanted to be. She craved that freedom: to move when and as she pleased. But after years of her mother’s glare and teachers tuts and off tellings, Barbara quit. Now she sat still with her books and worked. Perhaps she was drawn to Dick in the same way she was drawn to dance. Both allowed for that rush she craved. 

How tragic it was that they both lay so still. Not that the space allowed for any sort of movement. Barbara felt like she had been folded in half. Her head was pounding and her legs were bent at a rather uncomfortable angle. Dick was in no better shape. His legs were pressed to his chest and pinned rather tightly against her. 

She wanted to scream, but that would use up precious oxygen. Oxygen that Dick needed, that _she_ needed. The small container that they’d been stuffed into felt odd and weightless, as if it was slowly falling. Barbara had the horrible feeling that they’d been thrown into the bay. The container was a plastic polymer that was light enough it would allow for some buoyancy but the combined weight of her and Dick would ensure the container sank. Barbara shivered, despite the rather warm temperature of the box. Very gently she reached forward to touch Dick again. He still hadn’t woken up. She wondered if he ever would. 

_No. He has to_. She scolded herself. This was her fault. He was here, because she had been too stupid to see that it had been a trap. 

Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the box, but she couldn’t see the bloodstain on his shirt anymore. She hoped it was because the pressure of his legs against his stomach had quenched the bleeding rather than it being because the stain had grown so much that his shirt was soaked. There was no way to maneuver so that she could check it. The best she could do was twist her left arm under one of her legs to brush _his_ arm. She could just reach his wrist for a pulse. 

As long as his heart was still beating she would be calm. She had to figure this out. She had to save him. After all that bullet was meant for her. 

* * *

Dick stood laughing as Roy tried to stack yet another cup on Wally. They had almost reached the ceiling of the cave. He had never seen Wally stand so still before. In fact half the team was watching in pure amazement. A light chirping sound pulled Dick’s focus away from the activities in front of him. He pulled his phone out from his pocket and glanced at the name. 

Barbara. Dick smiled and then quickly felt his heart stop.

_Can you come get me?_

Dick swiped to reply, and turned to leave for the zeta tube. _I’m on my way._ He typed back without looking. 

_Thanks_.

Dick tapped his foot as the zeta tube booted up, calculating the journey back to Gotham. 

_Bring your lock picks._

Dick frowned, tapping his phone against his leg as he waited. Barbara was supposed to spend the weekend with her mom. She’d been dreading it for weeks. He couldn’t figure out why she made herself go. Barbara never liked spending time with her. In fact, Jim rarely allowed her to go. If She was going to spend time with her mom it was usually at a school function or some short event. 

Dick couldn’t remember the last time she’d spent the night. Dick glanced at his phone again as the zeta tube finally loaded and he felt the odd tug behind his gut that meant he was moving through nothingness. It wasn’t even eight o’clock and she wanted to leave. 

Dick found Barbara Kean’s apartment in one of the seedier parts of Gotham without incident. He knocked four times and rang the bell six before he broke in. The apartment was dark and cold. Dick pulled his coat closer to him. December in Gotham was always wet and cold. 

“Barbara?” He called out to the shadows, fear nipping at his heels. 

“I’m in here!” A very muffled voice answered.

Dick made his way through the living room and down the hall into what appeared to be a spare bedroom, if it could be called even that. 

“Babs?” Dick asked again, glancing around. There was nothing in here but a mattress on the floor, a rather large trunk and a closet door. 

“I’m in the closet.” 

Dick blinked in confusion. Why would she be-- then it hit him. _Someone_ had locked her inside. He stomped forward angrily and yanked his lockpick set back out. It took him less than twenty seconds to rip the door open. Barbara tumbled out looking far too pale for his liking. 

“What happened?” He reached forward to steady her. She only shook her head in response. Dick tugged off his jacket. Her arms were covered in goosebumps. 

Barbara took the coat without hesitation, another sign she was upset. Normally she would try and brush off her discomfort and tough it out. Instead she put her arms through the sleeves and gave him a very small grimace that was likely meant to be a thank you. 

“Are you hurt?” Dick pulled out his phone ready to call the commissioner. Jim Gordon needed to know what kind of nuts Barbara’s mother was. Dick felt a cold feary at her actions: locking her in a closet with the heat off, in the middle of winter. Had she not had her phone, she could have frozen to death in there.

“Sorry, you had to come all the way over.” Barbara finally said. 

Dick froze, his hand still stuffed into his jean’s pocket to dig out his phone. “Sorry? Babs, you have nothing to apologize for. I-- You know better than that. You did nothing wron--”

“I couldn’t get out. I tried, but um… I don’t have anything to pick the lock and the door was…”

“Babs, I’ve called Bruce to get me out of way weirder things.” 

Barbara had turned a pinkish color, which Dick supposed was more preferable to the pale hue she had been. “I _should_ have been able to get out on my own.”

Dick felt his heart sink. “Did I ever tell you about the time I got stuck in the crawl space below the manor?”

Barbara shook her hand and slipped her hands into his jacket pockets. Dick smiled. 

“Well--”

The door to the room slammed shut. Both Dick and Barbara jumped. Dick turned slightly so that he was almost in front of Barbara, between her and the intruder. 

“Awe, Barbara, you have a boyfriend?”

Barbara had gone as white as a sheet. “James, just get out of the way. I’m going home.”

Dick frowned. James was Barbara’s younger brother. She didn’t talk much about him and Dick had never met him. He looked nothing like her. 

Barbara was all soft edges and warm. He looked angular and cold. Dick wondered if his very bones could cut. 

“I don’t think you’ll be going anywhere today.” James said slowly, a sick smile spreading across his face. 

Dick narrowed his eyes and stepped forward. James was nearly as tall as him. Dick-- not for the first time-- hated his stature as an acrobat. Bruce had assured him that he wouldn’t stop growing until midway into his twenties, but being the youngest in his grade _and_ being on the short side had never felt so irritating, and Dick had faced down a multitude of villains. 

“Move.” Dick’s voice left no room for humor. 

He could feel a sort of coldness radiating from James. Dick wondered for the first time if it was her _mother_ that Barbara tried to avoid. 

James laughed.

Dick pulled his phone free from his pocket. “You have two seconds to move or I’ll call the cops.” 

Barbara made a small sound of protest behind him, but he didn’t care. 

“I don’t think you will.” James replied, the smile stretching even wider. 

Dick thought he looked rather like the Joker, then. He snorted and unlocked the phone. 

A small clicking sound filled the room and Dick froze. The sound was barely there but it seemed to echo in the silence. No one moved. 

“Drop it.” 

Dick felt his face grow warm, but he let the phone slide between his fingers. The device fell to the floor and bounced. The thud made Barbara flinch. Dick looked at the gun, irritated. He could try and disarm him, but Barbara was shaking slightly, she had been in the cold far too long, and he didn’t trust that she would be able to get out of the line of fire if he moved suddenly. He could try and push her back into the still open closet. It was either that or he try and talk his way out of this. 

Dick stepped forward slightly. “Look, I don’t know what you think--”

James snarled slightly and Barbara reached forward to yank Dick back. The movement was so fast Dick wasn’t sure what had happened. James’ hand went up and Dick stepped in front of her without thinking. 

Barbara screamed.

He didn’t hear the gun go off. But he felt it. His eyes widened slightly in shock. He had known it was coming, but that didn’t mean he was ready for the searing pain. He staggered back slightly and Barbara’s arms wrapped around him. James looked at him oddly. Dick _hated_ him. He was looking at Dick in a way far too similar to how the Joker studied Batman, as if he were a play thing that had broken too soon and ruined his fun. 

Barbara was saying something in his ears but it didn’t register. His ears were ringing. They shouldn’t be, not from just a single gunshot. 

Dick refused to look down. Looking at the wound would make it real, would make it hurt far more than it did then. His breath was coming in short, shallow gasps, but it was enough. He was Robin. He refused to… 

James raised the gun again. Dick steeled himself, but Barbara was moving again and it was suddenly apparent Dick’s legs were no longer functioning. 

But that didn’t matter. What mattered was the fact Barbara was now pushing _him_ behind her. 

“Barbara, no!” Dick felt as if ice was crawling over him, making his movements lagged and entirely too slow. Just as Dick’s knee’s finally gave out, James raised his hand. Dick couldn't stop the blow. But Barbara, Batgirl should have been able to, except this wasn’t some villain. This wasn’t a thug on the streets. This was no stranger lifting his hand against her. It was family and Barbara, for all her strength and courage, was still shaking. 

Barbara fell like a jenga tower, all at once and seemingly in every direction. Dick forced himself to fall forward. Over her. If he couldn’t stop the blow to the head the least he could do was cover her from whatever rage her brother had left. 

“Babs!” Dick called, but there was no answer. A blow to the head with a hard blunt object like the metal of a gun could do that. Dick knew how fragile the skull was. How often had Bruce told him to protect his head? How often had Alfred suggested a helmet after close calls and bad scrapes?

Barbara was out cold and there was nothing Dick could do. 

James laughed above him. “You really are a pair.”

Dick did nothing to stop the boot that hit him hard in the chest. He tried to pull Barbara back away from James, but his arms were shaking and his fingers couldn’t grasp her. Instead he rolled uselessly to the side. His arms trembled as he tried to push himself back up. He needed to get them out of here. He had to. 

The second kick knocked the wind out of him and left him reeling. Dick was blinking back black spots, his whole frame tensed for another blow, but it didn’t come. 

He looked around desperately, James was dragging Barbara. 

“No! Don’t touch h’r” Dick slurred. The room was spinning and he felt like he had been on a rollercoaster for hours. 

James didn’t even look up from his task as he pulled open the trunk in the corner of the room and hefted her inside. 

Dick’s eyelids grew heavier. He fought to stay awake. He had to get to her, to call someone. _Anyone_. He pulled himself forward towards them. He bit back a cry of agony. He only shut his eyes for a second to recenter himself, to gather enough strength to do it again. When he opened them he was faced with a pair of brown bloodstained boots. He closed his eyes again as the boot lifted and swung back.

* * *

The groan was the most beautiful sound Barbara had ever heard. 

“Dick?” She hardly dare breath. Though she had been checking his pulse regularly, it seemed too much to hope for. 

“‘abs?” He slurred into the stale air of the now stifling box. 

“Yeah. Don’t try and talk.” She hissed, suddenly conscious of the low amounts of oxygen that they might have left. 

He moaned slightly, and Barbara tensed as he tried to shift. His legs were already pressed uncomfortably into hers and her whole body was aching from the contorted shape it had been forced into. 

“I think we’re at the bottom of the harbor.”

Dick stopped trying to shift around. Barbara felt a light tapping on her left knee. It took her longer then she liked to realize he was tapping out a question. 

_How long?_

She reached for him and taped back: _don’t know._

Dick was still for a long time. Barbara regretted telling him not to talk. Now that she knew he was awake, she wanted nothing more than to hear his thoughts. Dick was smart, crazy smart. Not that she would ever say that to his face, but he was. She hoped he had some idea about how to get them out of this. 

Dick nudged her foot once and Barbara almost jumped. She nudged him back. 

_Phone_. He tapped

Barbara shook her head, it was so dark in the box but she could see his face just enough to tell he was frowning. 

_Pocket_.

Barbara shifted to see if she could reach it. It was awkward and cramped. Her arms were aching from being twisted into unnatural shapes, but after a moment of shifting and many aggravated hisses from Dick she managed to get into his pocket. She pulled out what looked like a small pocket knife. 

Wordlessly she handed it to Dick. 

He fumbled with it for a moment, and suddenly she was blinded. It had a flashlight. Barbara blinked several times to allow her eyes to adjust to the new found brightness. She wished he would turn the light back off. 

Dick looked terrible. His face was covered in beads of sweet, his hair was plastered down wet with blood and sweet and his shirt-- which had once been a navy blue-- was colored with a rather large dark spot. He was also sporting what looked like a very nasty black eye. His hands were shaking as he moved the light around looking at the edges of the box they were in. 

She tapped his knee. Dick peeled his eyes from the top corners of the box and locked with hers. His eyebrows knit together. She held her hand out for the light. Dick shot her a small smile and handed it to her pointing to the corner above her left shoulder. She shone the light on it for him. He tapped her knee.

_That one._

_For?_ She tapped back.

_Knife._

Barbara studied the sleek object in her hand. It had more tools hidden within it than seemed possible for its size. But then Batman always had the best tools. It made sense that Robin would have something on him at all times. She pulled the blade out from where it was tucked away and looked back at Dick expectantly, her eyebrows raised. She hoped he didn’t think she could hack her way through the box with such a small blade. 

But he was no longer looking at the box, his eyes were half closed and his head was lolling. Something rather like the sensation of a freefall rippled through her stomach. 

“Dick?” She hardly breathed. 

His head jerked slightly and his eyes opened a bit more, but they were glassy and unfocused. 

Her heart was hammering against her ribs. 

“Dick. you have to stay awake.” 

“Not enough air.” Dick’s voice was horse and thick. Barbara had never heard anything that sounded so beautiful.

“Stay awake. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Dick chucked. “Yeah you do. You’re the smartest person I know.”

Barbara shook her head. “No, I’m not. Look where we are.”

Dick’s eyes cleared for a moment. He was looking at her oddly. Barbara shifted uncomfortably under the weight of the stare.   
“You’re going to have a long way to swim. Just-- promise me you’ll try.”

Barbara’s eyes narrowed. “I’m going to need you to kick some.”

Dick shook his head. “I’ll just slow you down.” 

Barbara wondered if it was possible for her veins to freeze over. “Wh--what do you mean? You'll--”

“The bay is over 100 feet deep. You don’t have time to take me.” Dick tipped his head back and closed his eyes. “Your record is 3 minutes and 42 seconds. It’s going to be a stretch for you to get to the top as it is.”

“Dick, I’m-- I’m _not_ leaving you.” Barbara hated that her voice broke.

He smiled and Barbara wanted to hit him, to smack that look right off his face. She wanted to shake him and scream. 

“Yeah you are. Because I’m already dead, Babs.” He shifted slightly and hissed. “Even if you got me out. I’ve lost a lot of blood, then add the infection from the bay. Barbara, _you_ live and that will be enough for me.”

Barbara, felt her face burn hot. Her hands were shaking. “You son of a--”

“Babs, I need you to live. Okay.” There was a steel in the blue of his eyes, she had never seen before. Perhaps it was determination, or maybe yet desperation. 

“You can’t-- you don’t get to do that.” Tears were building behind her eyes and she hated them. She hated how she couldn’t shout at him. She couldn’t rage and scream about just how unfair it was for him to ask her that. “You’re my best friend. You can’t ask me to do that.”

Dick smiled. “You’re-- more than that to me. I-- Babs, I’m-- I _need_ you to do this.”

Barbara felt numb. What-- had he just? A vice grip was pushing on her chest. Whether it was the lack of oxygen or the confession sitting in front of her, she didn’t know. 

His eyes slid closed, and her resolve doubled. Barbara Gordan was going to break her record today if it killed her. Because Dick wasn’t going to get the last word. He couldn’t escape this even via death. 

Dick didn’t speak again, which was just as well, Barbara could have throttled him. How dare he do that? How dare he say that to her and ask her to leave him behind? Barbara jammed the blade as deep as she could into the small crevice of the box. She wiggled and sawed and pushed and twisted trying to get any sort of leverage to pry the box open. She only had a limited time once the outer seal broke, but she was ready. 

A fire was burning in her stomach and she intended to use it. She would get them both to the surface. 

Progress wasn’t like how it was in movies. There was no sudden pop or inpouring of water when she finally got the pocket knife through the corner. There was just a small, very cold leak. Now that it was there, there was no turning back. Her time was ticking to an end sooner. She redoubled her efforts. 

Water _did_ start to pour in when she made the hole wide enough for her fingers to get around the edge. 

Despite that rather large gap, the lid remained firmly shut. Barbara fought the panic that threatened to overwhelm her. She wished Dick would wake up and tell her what to do. She wished he would take over. But she was all they had. 

The latch. She had to get her arm out of the box and to the latch. Water was pouring in at an alarming speed and Barbara could do nothing to stop it. Not that the oxygen they had left in the box would have lasted them very long anyway. 

She shoved her arm out as far as it could go, ignoring the pain as her skin protested. She would be covered in bruising and scrapes, but it wouldn’t matter, not as long as she got to the top. Her hand fumbled with the latch. It seemed impossible to navigate, but then it popped. Barbara took a breath as deep as her lungs would allow, and forced herself to stand. The lid fell away slowly, she snatched at Dick’s collar and pushed off from the ground with all her might. 

She was agonizingly slow. The water was dark and cold. She thought back to all the times her father had taken her to the pool in the summer and how the light would reflect at the top. Gotham Bay was nothing like that. It was as if the water absorbed the light and left the depth unnaturally dark and filled with shadows. Barbara kicked. 

Dick trailed along, held by her left arm. He made no move to help, he made no move at all. Some part of her wondered if he was already dead. It seemed ages since she last checked his pulse.

She kicked harder. 

The top of the bay felt so far. Her lungs burned and her legs were spent. Her right shoulder was burning from paddling and her heart felt like it had sunk back into the dark depths. The urge to open her mouth and allow the water to flood in felt impossibly strong. 

She wondered who would find them. Would Batman think to look in the bay? Would they wash up on some distant shore? What would her dad think when she never showed up on Sunday? 

Barbara closed her eyes, and kept kicking though it seemed impossible. She kicked and kicked and kicked. Her chest was spasming and her legs cramping. Her head felt light and her eyes were burning even behind closed lids. 

And suddenly the burning was gone, the water suddenly seemed to be warmer then she realized. Her face and neck were blasted by razor sharp tendrils of wind.

The change in temperature was so jarring that for a moment she didn’t realize what had happened. Then the wind hit her hard, blowing back her hair from her face. her eyes flew open along with her mouth. 

The air burned cold as it entered her lungs, and it hurt her chest terribly as she sucked it down. It was the greatest feeling in the world. She wanted to float on the surface and just gulp down the sweet taste of Gotham’s smog filled air. But-- Oh Go-- Dick! She floundered around for a moment, wondering if she had let go of him without realizing. But he was there, floating next to her, his body limp and lifeless looking. 

Barbara took in the second largest breath of her life, and screamed. 

She screamed as loud as her abused lungs would allow, and when she ran out of air she did it again. She was too tired to pull him to the docs in the distance, But she could and would get help. 

“Help!” she screamed, as her voice broke and cracked over the words. Her throat felt raw and filled with knives, but she kept going. A small tugboat drew near. She waved her right hand, still shouting for all she was worth. 

“We’re here! Here! Help!”

Rough, calloused hands gripped her and Barbara finally gave into the exhaustion. She watched as Dick was lifted from the water, and satisfied that she had done all she could for him, she gave in to the dark encroaching on her vision. 

* * *

Barbara sat in the most uncomfortable chair imaginable, while nurses and doctors moved around. The waiting room was silent, well not completely, but enough that a faint buzzing was filling her ears. The sound of her own pulse, her mind supplied, as if her brain was trying to remind itself she was alive in any way it could. It was of little comfort, because she could do nothing. She had been looked over, given lots of fluids, and some medication for pain. None of it helped. She had quickly abandoned her own room and walked to the pediatric surgery’s waiting room. Parents were huddled together in pairs. 

She looked like a flaming ghost, haunting the room. Her hair stood out violently against her too pale skin and drab hospital gown. 

She sat slowly swinging her legs back and forth, making patterns into the floor with her toes as she waited. A man rushed past her moving panickily. She glanced up and felt her chest squeeze painfully. Bruce Wayne. Batman.

She should get up. She should tell him what happened. Batman would want a report. But she didn’t move. She stayed glued to the chair, and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to see. She didn’t think she could handle _his_ fear. She didn’t deserve to hide from the pain though. After all it was her fault they were here, her fault Dick was here. 

She didn’t want to hear his frantic pleas to the nurse on duty. She could imagine it well enough. She watched him but made no move to join him. Batgirl had failed Robin, and She found she didn’t have the courage to admit that just yet, even if she couldn’t allow herself the ignorance of not looking. She watched Bruce pleading for information from the nurses, his face was etched with pain, and lines she was sure hadn’t been there before. 

She was so busy focusing on his face and wildly moving hands she didn’t notice someone move to stand behind her. 

Something warm and heavy fell onto her shoulders. Barbara jerked in surprise. Then felt an overwhelming sense of peace flood her, when the figure spoke. 

“You should be resting.”

Barbara felt all the tears that had threatened to spill all day build up behind her eyes again. She looked up slowly at the figure leaning over her.

“Dad.” She choked out. 

“Hey, punk.” Jim leaned down and wrapped his arms around her gently. “You really scared me.” 

He smelled like peppermint and cigarettes. She leaned into the warmth. “I-- I didn’t--”

“It’s not your fault.” He pulled away, and Barbara lurched slightly at the sudden loss of contact. But he merely moved around so that he was kneeling in front of her chair. “What happened?”

Barbara blanched. How could she tell him? How could she say just what her brother had done? What his _son_ had done? Something hot and wet slid down her face. She decided in that moment, she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t say it out loud. At least not to him. She’d already told the nurses and doctors, the social worker, and a police officer stationed at the hospital. That-- That _had_ to be enough. 

Reliving it one more time was-- She had done and said it enough. Barbara shook her head. Her dad would hear it. He would know all the gory details, but Barbara didn’t have to be the one to break his heart. 

At some point he sighed and moved to sit next to her. His hand covered hers, and they waited. Bruce Wayne never came back through the waiting room.

* * *

Dick woke slowly with the odd feeling that he was floating slightly. His body felt very cold, except his left hand. His left hand was rather hot. Dick turned his head in search of whatever was causing his palm to feel sweaty. Bruce sat next to him, his eyes half closed, his chin pressed to his chest. Dick fought back a smile, His face didn’t feel like it could properly smile. He moved his jaw slightly and winced. Yep, he shouldn’t smile. Instead he slowly and rather carefully moved his hand, still engulfed in Bruce’s scared and calloused hand, so that it gave just the slightest amount of pressure against the man’s palm. 

Bruce jerked to alertness and blinked away any drowsiness. 

“Dick.” He breathed the word as if it were both a prayer and the answer to one. 

Dick blinked. 

“I--” Bruce’s voice choked off and his mouth closed and opened several more times. “I’m really glad to see you, chum.”

Dick winced slightly as his jaw protested moving. He bit back the discomfort. He needed to know. “Barbara?”

Bruce’s eyes softened. “She’s okay. She was discharged last night. She had some bruises and a concussion.”

Dick closed his eyes and leaned back onto his pillows. She was okay. She made it out. She swam to the... His eyes flew open. _He_ was okay. Well he wasn’t completely but… She had--

Dick looked back at Bruce searchingly. Bruce’s eyes were watery. So it had been close, _really_ close. Dick did his best to twist his face into something resembling a smile. It didn’t seem to work, for Bruce’s eyebrows knit together forming a crease over his face. 

“James was arrested.” 

Dick let the smile drop. “Are Barbara and Jim okay?” 

The words came out funny, but Bruce didn’t seem to mind. He was looking at Dick like he was the sun, and it had been a long night.

Bruce let go of his hand to smooth down his blankets, “They will be. I think Barbara was really shaken by it all.” 

Dick nodded. It had been-- to say _scary_ would be an understatement-- it had been terrifying. Dick was sure that he wouldn’t make it out. The fact that he was here at all was a testament to Barbara’s grit. 

“She’s been back four times. But-- They only let in one person at a time and…”

Dick’s eyes flashed up from Bruce’s hands still moving across the sheet trying to iron out a crease in it. Dick felt something catch in his throat. “Thanks for staying, Bruce.”

Bruce stilled and offered him a very small smile. “I wanted to-- I didn’t want you to wake up and not be here.”

Dick grabbed at Bruce’s hand, and gave it a small squeeze. He wondered what Bruce had been doing when he got the call. He wondered who told him that he was here. He wondered how long Bruce had been sitting here waiting and hoping for him to wake.

“And she really is okay?” Dick asked when Bruce squeezed back. Dick wondered how Barbara felt. It must have been worse for her, there in the dark wondering if he was a corpse. If the situation had been reversed, he would… He didn’t know if he could have done it. To swim to the top pulling someone else with so little air to begin with. 

“I’m sure seeing you would make her feel better.” Bruce said after a moment, as if it were painful to even consider leaving the room for five minutes. 

“If I promise to not argue about bedrest for at least… a week will you let her?” Dick offered ruefully. 

Bruce raised an eyebrow, his lips pursed. “Seven days?”

Dick rolled his eyes. “A week is usually seven days, B.” 

“I want no loopholes. You’ll rest for a full seven days with no complaint?”

Dick lifted Bruce’s hand and shook it slowly. Wordlessly Bruce stood up and pulled out his phone. 

“Jim, it’s--”

Dick watched Bruce feeling slightly dazed. He had spent so much energy in just a short conversation. But he needed to stay awake. He had to see if she was okay. If she wasn’t then-- then what had any of it been for?

“Yeah, He’s awake. I think he could do... a short visit. No more than half an hour. Could you bring-- You’re here?”

Dick’s eyes flew open. When had he even closed them? There was a light knock on the door. Dick felt so hazy, as if the world had wool on it. Something that smelled flowery crept into the room. Dick smiled, his eyes half closed. 

“Babs?” He mumbled. 

“Hey.” His bed dipped slightly as she sat down. 

“You weren't supposed to take me with you.” He said slowly. Why was it so hard to keep his eyes open? 

She was silent for a long time. “I need you to promise me something.”

Dick peeled his eyes open with a herculean effort. “You know I can’t promise that.”

“Yes, you can.” Her voice wavered slightly. “You don’t ever give up like that again, you hear me?” She spoke in a whisper, but her voice was hard, unrelenting. 

Dick forced himself to look at her, to lock eyes with her. She had flecks of brown in them, freckles dotting the green. “Are you mad at me?”

She shook her head. “No. But-- But it was…”

Dick slipped his hand into hers running his thumb across the back of it. “I promise not to give up.” 

She looked down at her hand and snorted. “How are you feeling?”

Dick glanced at his IV and shrugged. “I think they have me on the strong stuff, can’t feel a thing.”

“Well you look like crap.” She smiled lightly. 

Dick smiled and winced when his jaw throbbed painfully. 

“Sorry.” She frowned her free hand shooting out to touch his face only to stop inches from his skin. 

“Nah-- it’s fine. I think I have some hairline fractures or somethi--”

“I really am sorry, Dick.” She interrupted. “I shouldn’t have… I panicked and it wasn’t-- I _should_ have been able to deal with it.”

“Did I ever tell you about Harvey?” Dick said suddenly. 

Barbara shook her head slowly.

“Early when I first started Robin, Harvey got a hold of Batman and a judge. He was threatening to kill them and I got too confident in my abilities. The judge died, and I was-- It was really bad, Bruce told me I couldn’t be Robin anymore.”

Barbara tilted her head confused. 

“But that’s not-- Look Harvey was… He was Bruce’s best friend. I don’t know if you knew that. He used to take me to games and come over when Bruce was out of town. I-- He meant a lot-- to both of us.

“I know It’s not the same. What your brother did was, messed up. And I’m not saying you have to forgive him or something dumb like that. You can hate him forever if you want. I’m just-- Crap. I had a point.”

Barbara smiled. “You’re on a lot of pain killers, I think we can let this one slide.”

“No.” Dick ground out frustrated with himself. “It’s important. I couldn’t look at him for years. Whenever Two-Face got out, I would freeze up and panic. I couldn't think straight around him.”

Barbara leaned forward slightly. “Dick, you don’t have to tell me--”

“Yes!” He nearly shouted. “Yes, I do! Because it wasn’t my fault. And _this_ wasn’t yours either.”

“Dick--”

“No. You don’t tell me… you don’t have to apologize for _him_. He did it. Not you. Don’t you dare say, you’re sorry.” He slumped back on his pillows and glared up at her. 

“Okay.” She whispered. 

She leaned forward and pushed his hair out of his face.

“Did you--” She blushed slightly. “Did you mean what you said?”

Dick blinked. “I just told you.”

“No. I mean when we were in the box?” 

Dick wondered for a moment what she was talking about, then it hit him. “Oh.”

“I mean it's okay, if you were just… you lost a lot of blood.” Her hand slipped out of his.

“Do you want me to mean it?” He asked carefully.

“I don’t know.” She smiled. “I know that’s silly, but I don’t know.”

“Well I’ll be here when you decide.” Dick said, feeling exhaustion wash over him again. 

Sleep took him suddenly and without warning. He was simply awake one moment and out the next. When he awoke again Bruce was back in his chair, but there was a small pocket knife on the bed stand. With a sticky note covered in a tidy print. 

_Thanks for the loan._

Dick smiled and decided it was worth it. She was worth it. He could wait forever if she needed. 


End file.
